At Kollmorgen, we're all about innovation. That's why we constantly invest in collaborations and research projects to exchange knowledge and expertise with partners and universities across the world. Not only does it generate creativity among our employees, but it also helps our customers, partners, and students worldwide to realize their ideas. Someone who is much involved in our innovation projects and initiatives is Simon Bokesand, our Senior Innovation Engineer.

Simon has been with us for ten years, and as his title reveals, he spends his days handling all kinds of innovation-related projects here at Kollmorgen. An exciting role in the interface between traditional engineering and project management.

"Working with what I do sometimes reminds me of a kid playing around with remote control cars, but on a much larger scale. Our products are very exciting and fun to work with, and it’s a great feeling to be realizing ideas at the cutting edge of tech! I also enjoy the wide range of competencies here at Kollmorgen and the different perspectives it brings; we have people working with everything from hardware to software development."

Another thing Simon appreciates about his job is collaborating with different universities on our research projects.

"The purpose of these projects is to allow students to test and implement their smart ideas and solutions so that it won't just be a plan on the drawing board. It also gives us, as a company, the opportunity to take part in their findings and results. Listening to their new ideas and fresh perspectives is always inspiring. In our research projects, we also team up with companies from different industries. Even though they come from a completely different branch than ours, we always have the same purpose – to make some kind of vehicle move autonomously. It's exciting to see that despite the differences, we often share the same challenges, and it’s enriching to discover those synergies and collaborate to find a solution."

When it comes to innovation, it's easy to think that creativity is the main component. But according to Simon, there are other equally important factors to consider.

"Innovation is not only about coming up with new ideas, but also realizing them and ensuring they create value for the user. It's important to have a holistic view and the customer's best interests in mind. At Kollmorgen, we have a business model based on a worldwide partner network, which allows us to focus on developing high-end control solutions, enabling our partners to provide excellent end-user applications. I believe that's a business model that creates innovation and allows everyone us to leverage their our expertise in the best way possible."

Another way to spark innovative thinking and creation is our event Innovation Day that we conduct every 12 weeks – an entire day dedicated to implementing ideas and making them come to life!

"The purpose of Innovation Day is to get the time and space to explore new technology and try things out. It's also a chance to collaborate with colleagues you usually don't work with. Even though it's up to you what kind of project you want to work on, most of us choose to do something related to our business. For me, that’s evidence of a joint commitment and engagement for our products."

With innovation as the core of our business, we take a great responsibility to improve our products while always ensuring the safety and reliability of new technology. It's a challenge, but we believe that with more perspectives comes better ideas and products.